Annie Arniel (May 1873 – February 9, 1924) was a

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to vo ...

and women's rights advocate. Born in

Harrington, Delaware Harrington is a city in Kent County, Delaware, United States. It is part of the Dover metropolitan statistical area. Harrington hosts the annual Delaware State Fair each July. The population was 3,774 in 2020. History Harrington was named fo ...

as Anna L. Melvin, she married George Arniel of Canada and was widowed in 1910. Annie played a key role in helping to win the women's vote in the United States.

Activism

Arniel was a factory worker, living in downtown Wilmington,

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

, when she was recruited by Mabel Vernon and

Alice Paul Alice Stokes Paul (January 11, 1885 – July 9, 1977) was an American Quaker, suffragette, suffragist, feminist, and women's rights activist, and one of the foremost leaders and strategists of the campaign for the Nineteenth Amendment to the Unit ...

for membership in the

National Woman's Party The National Woman's Party (NWP) was an American women's political organization formed in 1916 to fight for women's suffrage. After achieving this goal with the 1920 adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, the NWP ...

(NWP). As a member of the

Silent Sentinels The Silent Sentinels, also known as the Sentinels of Liberty, were an American group of over 2,000 women in favor of women's suffrage organized by Alice Paul and the National Woman's Party, who nonviolently protested in front of the White House ...

she was among the first six suffragists arrested and jailed on June 27, 1917, at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

. She served eight jail terms for suffrage protesting: three days in June 1917; 60 days in the Occoquan prison in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, from August to September 1917, for picketing; 15 days for a meeting in Lafayette Square; and five sentences of five days each in January and February 1919 for the NWP's watchfire demonstrations. After participating in a demonstration at the

United States Capitol The United States Capitol, often called the Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the Seat of government, seat of the United States Congress, the United States Congress, legislative branch of the Federal government of the United States, federal g ...

in October 1919, Arniel was "so brutally treated by the police that she was rendered unconscious and her back was injured. She was taken to a hospital, and the police gave out that she was "roughed up a bit" when her banner was seized. At the hospital police told attendants that she had been injured in a street car accident."

Death

According to Arniel's Delaware Death Record, she died on February 9, 1924, at the age of 55. The cause of death was "asphyxiated by illuminating gas; suicide intent."Delaware Public Archives; Dover, Delaware; ''Delaware Vital Records, 1800-1933''; Series Number: ''Death Certificates - 24''

References

*Doris Stevens, ''Jailed for Freedom'' New York: Boni and Liveright, 1920 {{DEFAULTSORT:Arniel, Annie 1873 births 1924 deaths People from Harrington, Delaware Canadian suffragists People from Frontenac County National Woman's Party activists American political women 1924 suicides Suffragists from Delaware

Activism

Death

See also

References